Raghad Hussein: the little Saddam

Raghad Hussein, eldest daughter of the ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein who was designated one of Iraq's most wanted persons, is nicknamed "Little Saddam," so close does her temperament resemble that of her father.

Unlike her more retiring mother Sajida, Raghad, 37, is said by those who know her to be a formidable, irascible figure whose purposes it is best not to cross.

On the death of her brothers Uday and Qusay, killed by US troops in July 2003, Raghad and her sister Rana left Syria to seek refuge in Jordan. Their mother and a third daughter Hala, whose husband is in prison, opted for Qatar.

Those close to them say Raghad has now taken charge of family affairs, notably the legal defense of Saddam and his son-in-law, sacking lawyers who do not measure up and appointing new ones.

"She has some human relations problems because she can be haughty with those with whom she does business, as if she were still the daughter of the Iraqi president," a former member of Saddam's defense committee told AFP Sunday.

Added a person who has met Raghad in Jordan: "She does not hide her sympathy for the Iraqi resistance and it would not be surprising if she were aiding it."

Tall, slim and blonde, she can appear as a well-turned out society woman, dressing in the latest styles and regularly patronizing a well-known hairdresser in Amman, where she went on Saturday accompanied by her daughter, witnesses reported.

For Raghad and Rana, relations with their father and brothers were strained after the assassinations of their husbands, General Hussein Kamel Hassan and his brother Saddam Kamel, on their return to Iraq in 1996 after five years in exile in Jordan.

Both women accused the men in the family of having been responsible for the killings.

But with the deaths of their brothers and the arrest of Saddam, Raghad and Rana had a change of heart and decided that the defense of their father was more important than their personal feelings, according to family members.

In the Qatari capital Doha, Saddam's wife Sajida and her daughter Hala regularly receive visits from Raghad and Rana.

"She acts as the loyal wife and takes an interest in defending her husband," said a lawyer with knowledge of the matter.

Sajida is a cousin of Saddam Hussein and the daughter of the man who raised Saddam when he lost his father at the age of nine.

Saddam in fact never divorced his first wife and has married three other women, Samira Shabandar in 1982, Nidal Hamdani in 1990 and Iman Howeid in 2001.

He has officially recognized only the five children -- Uday, Qusay, Raghad, Rana and Hala -- he had with Sajida.